BIRD INTIMACIES 



twigs, and swaying freely in the wind. Few nests 

 are so secure, so hidden, and so completely sheltered 

 from the rains by the drooping leaves above and 

 around it. It is rarely discoverable except from 

 directly beneath it. I think a well-built oriole's 

 nest would sustain a weight of eight or ten pounds 

 before it would be torn from its moorings. They 

 are also very partial to the ends of branches that 

 swing low over the highway. One May I saw two 

 female orioles building their nests twenty or twenty- 

 five feet above our State Road, where automobiles 

 and other vehicles passed nearly every minute all 

 the day. An oriole's nest in a remote field far from 

 highways and dwellings is a rare occurrence. 



Birds of different species differ as widely in skill 

 in nest-building as they do in song. From the rude 

 platform of dry twigs and other coarse material of 

 the cuckoo, to the pendent, closely woven pouch of 

 the oriole, the difference in the degree of skill dis- 

 played is analogous to the difference between the 

 simple lisp of the cedar-bird, or the little tin whistle 

 of the "chippie," and the golden notes of the wood 

 thrush, or the hilarious song of the bobolink. 



Real castles in the air are the nests of the orioles; 

 no other nests are better hidden or apparently more 

 safe from the depredations of crows and squirrels. 

 To start the oriole's nest successfully is quite an 

 engineering feat. The birds inspect the branches 

 many times before they make a decision. When 



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